Truss.



T. A. MACDONALD.

TRuwss. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3., l9l4.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Wl TNESSES THE NORRS FETERS CIO.. PHON-LITHG.. WASHL'GTON, D. C.

THOMAS MAQDONALD,l OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

TRUSS.

Speci'cationof Letters Patent.

Patenjtedlllay, 25,1915.

Application ledeptember 3, 1914. SerialNo. 859,991.

To allwhomz'tfmay concern Beit known that I, THOMAS A., MACDON- ALD, asubjectofe the King of Great-Britain, and.v a; resident of Paterson,Passaic andl State of New Jersey.,have made certain new. and4 usetul.Improvements in Trusses, of; which thedollowing isa. specilication.

My inventionA relates to surgical appli.- ances, `more particularly,totrusses, consists`v in the combinations',l constructions andarrangements herein described .and claimed;

An object ofmy invention is` toprovidea devicel by means of which alrupture maybe permanently healed in a comparatively short time.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the typedescribedy in which there is an adjustablepad that may be moved towithdraw pressure as the-wound heals.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the typedescribed which is particularly effective in preventing the protrusionof the viscera.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specificationand the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis application in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the truss,Fig. 2 is a plan view of the pad, Fig. 3 is a section along the line 3-3of Fig. Q, and Fig. 4 is a modified form of the device.

In carrying out my invention I provide a base or backing 1 which may bemade of,

metal or other suitable material and which is provided with peripheralflanges 2. Disposed within the peripheral flanges and retained by themis an outer wall 3, which is preferably circular in cross section, asshown in Fig. 3, and which may be made of any suitable material such asvleather stuffed with resilient packing, rubber, Celluloid, etc.

Disposed on one side of the plate 1 is an.

inner plate 4 upon which the wall 3 bears. This inner plate forms areinforcement for the plate 1. Straps 5 may be secured to the plates 1and 4 by means of rivets 6 or in any other suitable manner, these strapsbeing intended to Jfasten around the body and bein thef county oiv and:1tA

ing provided; with. the usual' buckle on clasp 7. A cross strap 8 may beusedit-desireda 0n the opposite sidevof'V the plate l'from the wally 3vis a bowed` member 9, which is provided with a lug or pinV 10fat itscenter. Thefplate 4 is provided withar bracket. 11v whichis threadedtoreceive a screw` bolt 12, an opening being provided in the plates: 1vand 4 tok permit the free passage of. the screw. screw 12,.while ayspr-ing14 bearsat one end -on the bowedmember 9 and at the otheren'd onthe nut. The spring 14, as. will be seen, surrounds the pin or the endof the screwv bolt at the other.

A central pad 15y is provided, having a plate 16 on its flat side whichholdsthe head of; the screw bolt- 12 in place.` This pad. 15 may be madeo any suitable material: will be seen` that the pad:y is spaced apartfrom; the wall. 3;

From `the foregoing description of the various parts of the thereof maybe readily understood.

The straps 5 and 8 are secured to the body of the patient in the usualmanner and the central pad 15 is placed in the opening in the body ofthe patient. In Fig. 3 I have indicated diagrammatically the edges ofthe opening at m. It will be seen that the pad does not touch theseedgesand also that the outer walls 3 of the body press against the body ofthe patient at some distance beyond the edges of the opening. In manydevices of this type the pads are designed to completely cover theopening and wherel they come in contact with the edges of the openingthe patient suffers severe pain. Furthermore such a device prevents theunion of the parts which are ruptured. In the present instance thecentral pad is designed to hold back the viscera, but in the event thatany portion of the viscera should protrude past the central pad, it willbe held and retained in the cup Vformed by the walls 3 and the plate 4.Moreover since the walls A milled nut. 13 is disposed onthe lug 10-fatone end; and

devicel the' operationv 3 are in direct contact with the body of thepatient the pad is not apt to slip since the walls 3 have suliicientfriction to prevent the milled nut 13 is gradually turned so kas tocause the retraction of the pad l5. This allows the wound to healgradually and the nut may be moved by the patient himself as the woundheals.

It will be observed that the tension of the pad isv not secured bytightening the belt, but rather by the spring 14 so that the belt needonly be tightened suliciently to lkeep the pad in place. Y

I am aware that devices have been made in which exterior walls have beenused to prevent the protrusion of the viscera, but I desire to callattention to the fact that my device accomplishes not only this result,but it actually centers the pad l5 so that it does not come in contactwith the edges of the opening of the rupture. In 'order for the wound toheal the edges of the rupture must not be pressed on by the pad and whenthe walls 3 are placed against the body. they will maintain the padwithin the wound or opening, but out of engagement with the edgesthereof. It is also necessary that as the wound closes some provisionmust be made for withdrawing the pad, while the outer walls still holdthe pad in its central position. This is accomplished in the mannerheretofore described.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified form of the device in which an outerwall 3X of circular contour is provided with an inner pad l5X which isalso circularvand concentric with the wall 3X. The principle upon whichthe modified form works, however, is precisely that as shown inconnection with the preferred form in Fig. 2, the main object being, asabove stated, to centralize the pad 15X'within the opening so that itdoes not provided with a threaded opening, a screwbolt arranged toextend through said threaded opening and through said backing, a-

pad disposed within the outer wall and spaced from the latter, said padbeing secured to said screw bolt, a supporting member carried by saidbacking on the oppositev side from said pad, a nut on said screwboltarranged to bear against said backing, and

a spring disposed between said nut and said supporting member.

THOMAS A. MACDONALD.

Witnesses:

L. A. STANLEY, SoLoN C. KEMoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve. cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Y Washington, D. C.

